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Home > Desert Oracle Radio > Yucca Valley Town Council approves 2026 – 2028 Public Art Program and budget
Podcast: Desert Oracle Radio
Episode:

Yucca Valley Town Council approves 2026 – 2028 Public Art Program and budget
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2026-03-10 14:40:00
Description:

Yucca Valley is continuing its push into more public art, with funding and plans for more utility box installations, a two year engagement at the Yucca Valley Library, and some rearrangement of current art and projects around town.

Recreation Supervisor Clayton Rardon presented the 2026 – 2028 public art plan and proposed budget to the Town Council at March 3rd’s meeting. 

Library corner art installations proposed for two-years

First up – the two pieces of public art at the corner of the Yucca Valley County Library branch have been well-received, but a few changes are coming to the spot. Now that the Town’s Christmas Tree lighting has officially moved to Founders Plaza, that leaves the corner area open year-round for an art installation.

Previously, the corner hosted two sculptures from local artists: Gubby Beck’s Infinite Connection piece was followed by Chad La Fever’s “Where is my Mind?”

Rardon says that feedback from the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Commission is that the next installation takes up more space in the high profile location, and that it stays for two years. The Town has allocated $4,500 for the space.

Speaking of Founder’s Plaza, the new public area is also a candidate for more public art, with 2,500 dollars set aside for a smaller rotating installation.

Possible mural put on pause

A possible mural for the Yucca Valley Community Center was floated, with 12,000 earmarked for the project which could be painted onto the North Side of the building near the pickleball courts, or the west side facing the playground. This would be the Town’s first foray into folding murals into the public art program, and Clayton says murals can last 10 to 20 years with minimal maintenance.

Utility box art program expands

The vinyl utility box wraps that were installed in 2024 will be getting an additional round of colorful art for the decidedly dull boxes. The bi-annual box spruce up will add an additional 6 boxes to the 12 that are already installed, and Rardon expects the vinyl wrapped boxes to last about 8 years before needing replaced.

Coyotes are coming

And coyotes are coming to some businesses in Yucca Valley. A proposed biannual program would have an artist design a coyote statue that could then be made into a mold so multiple fiberglass coyotes could be cast from it. Local artists would then hand-paint the sculptures and they would be displayed in front of local businesses around town. The sculptures’ locations would be added to a Public Art Walk map, and then would eventually be auctioned off during the Art Tours season.

In total, the proposed art budget for 2026-2028 is just shy of $90,000. The Town Council had some suggestions on two of the proposals: a $2,500 call for art at Brehm Park was suggested to be set aside as the Town already has a sculpture in need of a permanent home.

There was also some pushback regarding the $12,000 dollar mural allocation, with councilmembers questioning the possible placements.

Ultimately, the budget was passed without the mural and Brehm park allocations, and the $14,500 will be set aside as a placeholder for further public art discussion.

The post Yucca Valley Town Council approves 2026 – 2028 Public Art Program and budget appeared first on Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree.
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